#everything about this sequence is peak comedy to me

[allisonjamaica]

you can’t tell me this isn’t how that scene went

#‘he’s my responsibility’ liam sweetie that wasn’t the question #everything about this sequence is peak comedy to me #well. maybe not ‘you don’t have to stop’ that’s not comedy that’s a targeted attack on my theo defender heartstrings #teen wolf #thiam #liam dunbar #theo raeken #scott mccall

[botlabyrinth]

OKAY PERCY JACKSON EPISODE 6 THOUGHTS (long post)

i was definitely a bit weary of the big changes: the fact that the summer solstice deadline passed and that percy gets 4 pearls. but after thinking about it for a while i think im actually okay with it!! first of all, its making the show interesting for book readers bc they caught me off guard and now we don’t 100% know how it’s going to play out lol

but also, i like that the deadline passing raises the stakes a bit more. the fact that percy still wants to go get the bolt from the underworld, just shows how committed he’s become to the actual goal of the quest and starting to embrace his demigod side. and it’s going to make his trip to olympus at the end so much riskier & dangerous considering a whole war is literally about to start. so im okay with this

and then the 4 pearls: i still don’t think they’re going to be able to take sally with them out of the underworld. something is definitely going to happen to 1 of the pearls, it’s going to get lost in the chaos of them making it to hades’ palace or SOMETHING because a big part of the prophecy is “fail to save what matters most in the end”. they have to leave sally behind and i think it’s going to be so much more heartbreaking that percy HAD 4 pearls and HAD the chance to save his mom but they lost 1 along the way so then they’ll have to make the tough decision and TRULY fail to save what matters most… bc in the book it’s not even really an option since he only gets 3 pearls

obviously i could be wrong about that lol but i don’t think there’s any way they don’t leave sally behind because she’s not there on the beach when they’re about to fight ares, which is where they are directly after the underworld (unless they’ve switched the order around but idk how that would work)

other than that I LOVED EVERYTHING with the trio, the bestieism continues and i love it. you can really see the shift in percy and annabeth’s dynamic after the last episode it’s so cute. the little grover and percy moments were so sweet too, their convos felt RIGHT out of the books to me. also MORE SEAWEED BRAIN AND WISE GIRL!!!

LOVE the dream sequence bc it felt so book accurate, we do get a lot of percy witnessing other people’s convos through his dreams and this is the first time we’ve seen it in the show, it was great

luke immediately jumping at the chance to blame clarisse for stealing the bolt in the iris message lol im laughing

more luke/annabeth sibling set up AND hermes and may and luke backstory set up??? i was NOT expecting that so early on but im deeply obsessed

the whole hermes situation was also great… i can’t believe it but i liked LMM’s performance?? i think he sold it really well. again im so excited to be getting these convos about hermes and luke so early on because it is such a key part to the end of the series.

the conversation with percy and the nereid and the way percy reacts to thinking the quest failed??? the way he refuses to give up?? the nereid saying they all see so much of poseidon in him??? i’m unwell

crying at annabeth pick pocketing hermes, the literal god of thieves, that’s my girl fr

the entire cab driving sequence was just so funny. peak comedy, and brought some lightheartedness to the episode that i think was very needed. the new yorker in percy really came out in that scene lmao

there was just SO MANY hilarious moments of dialogue and jokes between the trio i feel like this episode captured the essence of their dynamic from the books so well

overall LOVED it, wish it was longer, and i’m curious to see how they finish it off in the next 2 episodes. i’m trying my best to hold back the criticism for any changes until we’ve seen the whole season, because i think most complaints people have from this ep will probably just be fixed or addressed in the next 2 lol

#long rant today but yea i feel like people are gonna be up in arms about some of the changes this episode #and i just want everyone to relax and wait til the whole seasons out😭 #lol #pjotv #pjo tv spoilers #pjo tv #pjo tv show #pjo disney + #pjo #percy jackson #ruch rambles

[callmearcturus]

Okay here are the Mission Impossible grades now that I've seen them all

Mission Impossible 1: A-Tier

STILL LODGED IN MY FUCKING BRAIN. I did not go into this one expecting it to be that good. I only shouted at DePalma once I think and mostly I was staring in fascinated horror at the sexually-charged manipulative thriller unfolding. I am obsessed with the dynamic between Ethan, Phelps, and Claire, there is some SHIT going on there, the queer reading of this movie is off the charts. Would rewatch any day.

Mission Impossible 2 Silent Movie Recut: C-Tier

This is a bad fucking movie but Punct and I were screaming for 90% of the film, it was so fucking fun and stupid. Granted, I don't think we would have survived if we weren't watching the recut, BUT nothing will ever be funnier than Ethan doing a backflip and then mid-air changing to a down-kick. I was so shocked at the AUDACITY and the STUPIDITY I immediately rewound the scene to watch it again. Amazing. Totally batshit. Ethan why are you kicking everything you are a punchman.

Mission Impossible 3: Trash Tier

This movie was a nightmare. I feel actively bad for Cruise and Monaghan bringing their A game to a shit-tier script. This movie has MULTIPLE PROBLEMS. There were multiple sequences that were so poorly shot that I couldn't follow what the fuck was happening. The constant unnecessary cuts and the rapid tempo gave me a headache. JJA is incapable of letting a shot breathe at all, like if he doesn't cut every three to five seconds his head will explode. Also this script was ATROCIOUS. Fucking WHAT. There is no introducton to the team, making them feel completely tertiary. That line about sleeping with your sister catapulted me out of the movie like an ejection from a jet plane. The entire anti-god speech was peak 'take the keyboard away from JJA.' And WHAT was with the random bondage mask scene??? Was JJA like "sorry i have no idea how to keep the plot moving unless Ethan literally can't speak in this scene so here's the IMF-issued Unsexy Bondage Mask."

Also this Jack Bauerification of Ethan Hunt pisses me off. Ethan Hunt should not use assault rifles, that's not who he is, JJA meet me in the pit.

Ghost Protocol: A-Tier

Stupid and delightful and finally some good fucking food. The first of the McQuarrie Trilogy. After enduring MI3 I want to kiss McQuarrie on the fucking mouth for writing this. You actually get to know the team! There is time spent establishing each of their dynamics with Ethan! Finally Ethan is doing sneaky shit instead of just shooty shit! The Burj! The comedy! This is a 2 hour episode of Leverage and I fucking love it. Thank you, zero notes.

Rogue Nation: S-Tier

Oh babygirl here we fucking go. Not only McQuarrie on script (with help from good writers) but he's in the director chair, welcome to the party, hardy. I L O V E this movie. It has supplanted GP as my comfort watch of the series. Ilsa Faust is an excellent addition to the team with a lot of edge to her and the way she drives the plot thrills me chills me and fulfills me. And while she's kind of the love interest that is not even remotely the plot of the story, the story is crunchy with Solomon Lane serving such fuckin good vibes. He has actual motivation beyond "hello i am the baddie" he has thoughts and motivations and he also is STAGGERINGLY PETTY. Also I cannot tell what's my favorite bit of this one, the part where Ethan is fucking OUT OF IT after he gets resuscitated or when Ethan goes off the deep end.

This movie really said "Benji Dunn is 90% of Ethan's impulse control" and it was RIGHT! Thank you McQuarrie, I love you.

Fallout: S-Tier

I'm fucking unhinged about this movie. The batshit motorcycle chase in Paris, the HALO jump, the helicopter hijacking. Ethan's continued moral decay as his ethical compass begins to realign, and the way it fucks him over. Solomon fucking Lane back to haunt the shit out of everyone. That FUCKING bathroom brawl jesus fuck. Everyone is on their goddamn A game, they are giving everything. Watching the final act is like a prolonged heart attack. Also the cinematography and lighting is jawdroppingly gorgeous. Also Julia is AMAZING. HER SCENE WITH LUTHER MAKES ME EMOTIONAL.

Not only do I have no notes, I want McQuarrie to give me notes. Goddamn. Ethan Hunt is babygirl and his tired eyes give me feelings.

There it is, my lukewarm takes.

#mission impossible

[luckydragon10]

KinnPorsche Ep11 Lines of Power

You know the drill by now: I'm here to talk about lines of power, staging, and framing in KinnPorsche.

D: I'm a day late. Apologies. My power went out yesterday... which, as @antique-forvalaka pointed out to me, is pretty funny. Totally different line of power.

This post focuses mostly on the first sequences with Vegas, Pete, and Khun Kan (or however we feel like spelling his name today). I won't be showing anything graphic, but there's some camera angle work that is SO interesting that I gotta dive into extra detail.

I have a few fluffier images later to lighten up the post, though, I promise. 😉

More LoP posts: [Trailer] ... [Ep07] [Ep08] [Ep09 Part 1] [Ep09 Part 2] [Ep10] [Ep12]

Pay close attention to the camera tilts (aka the Dutch angles) throughout this scene. I can't even cover everything because there are sooo many shots and angles, but I'll call out my favorite bits.

The two pics above establish the tilts. Vegas's angle tilts left, and Pete's angle tilts right. Their angles are leaning away from each other, like the opposing poles of magnets.

Be careful how you watch the scene... sea sickness may occur. There's lots of tilting back and forth, and when the cuts are fast, I feel like I'm on a boat that's rocking with the waves, very discomfiting.

Then we get a disruptor coming in. Hello, Khun Kan (Kun, Gun, whoever the hell you are).

This shot is so severely tilted, and Daddy Scarfs-a-lot has a biiiiiig thick line of power at his back with that unobstructed column in the foreground. He stepped in, took control of the room, and is like a crushing power looming above both Vegas and Pete.

What do we have here? Vegas is the focus in this shot, and his angle changed. THIS. THIS GOT ME.

Vegas has gone from the one abusing to the one being abused. He's taken on Pete's tilt, going to the right.

I see what you did there. I SEE IT. And I am so impressed by this choice. 🤌

Khun Namechanger takes a deep breath, cools his emotions, and returns to practical decision-making. He brings the scene into an upright position for the moment. The vertical column to the right helps steady the rocking boat that is this entire scene (though only briefly).

After Papa Goatee leaves, Vegas resumes his left-tilt angle.

FIRST SHOT: Oh hey, look, the column is tilting left, so that screws up the tilts from the establishing shots, doesn't it?

NOPE.

In the top pic here, Pete's head serves as the right tilt. If the camera were also tilted the way it usually is for him, his head would practically be horizontal, which wouldn't be any good. So Pete's right tilt still remains in effect, only with his head.

SECOND SHOT: There we go, back to normal with the pillar leaning right. Pete's head in both shots? Parallel. SO PARALLEL. Holy crap.

This is so good it blows my mind. 🤯

If anyone decides to break down every single angle from theses early VP scenes, link me, please? I'd love to see it.

Tableaus! Beautiful tableaus once again! (I explain what a tableau is back in Ep 5 LoP.) These really look like they could be sets on a live theatre stage.

Mostly I want to say how much I appreciate what they've done with P'Chan here.

This demonstrates a great way to accomplish a lot without any dialogue, using the staging to tell a story.

In the first shot, P'Chan is off to the side. He isn't really necessary to this conversation. Then for the Porsche scene, not only is his gun out, but he's looming like an avenging angle.

Peak comedy.

This is my freebie for this post. I haven't gotten a freebie for ages.

It's pretty. I like it. I could stare for hours.

Oh, and there's a damn reflection again. This show drives me mad.

Tankhun is so big here, and Porchay is so smol.

Tankhun's size is emphasized in multiple ways:

Tankhun can't even fit in the frame — the top of his head is getting cut off, emphasizing his stature.

Tankhun is in the foreground, whereas Chay is in the mid-ground.

Tankhun's fluffy jacket more than doubles his width.

These details all add up to make Chay look even more child-like than usual, out of proportion to Tankhun. His smolness is perfect for a scene where Tankhun basically adopts Chay as another little brother.

In this scene, Kim finally (at long last) makes a big breakthrough in his investigation.

Check out the background! It's an open doorway, a direction, a way forward, even if it isn't the direction he expected his sleuthing would go.

///

More LoP posts: [Trailer] ... [Ep07] [Ep08] [Ep09 Part 1] [Ep09 Part 2] [Ep10] [Ep12]

For more great meta from folks across the KP Tumblr fandom, please visit the Damn Good KinnPorsche Meta doc.

#kinnporsche #kinnporscheep11 #kinnporsche meta #cinematography breakdown #lines of power

[neonscandal]

Hi ....Do you mind if I ask your top 5 (or top 10) favorite moments from any anime (can be series or movies)? Sorry if you have already answered this ask before.....

This is an incredible ask which inherently will come with some serious spoilers! This was also really tricky trying to determine what makes something my favorite - was it the funniest? The craziest? The biggest plot twist? I used the benchmark of what moments do I wish I could watch for the very first time, all over again. I broke the difference with eight, hope you don't mind!

⚠️ Spoiler Warning covers the following series (specific benchmarks will be given) for Sk8 the Infinity, Attack on Titan, My Hero Academia, Yuri on Ice, Trigun, Fushiigi Yuugi.

SK8 the Infinity S1 E6, allusion to S1 E10

Starting off light! One would assume that one of the most iconic scenes in Sk8 is the slap heard round the world but I found that more heartbreaking than anything. My favorite moment of Sk8 is easily Miya cockblocking Joe on the beach because what a flex, first of all. Secondly, the build up and subsequent (unknowing) teamwork of our favorite motley crew of skaters? 😘👌🏾 Chef's Kiss and *peak* comedy.

Attack on Titan S3 E16

I could talk at length about the exquisite exposition of Attack on Titan and how each rewatch sprouts new easter eggs of foreshadowing as the world unfurls for the viewer. But the truth is, out of the entire series, the moment that I would want to rewatch for the first time is Erwin's rallying speech in Shinganshina. In addition to inspiring goosebumps and anxiety when I hear it, it is a perfect storm of emotions as concurrent events unfolding are all coming to a head. It's a wretched life and a hopeless situation made worse by the all-or-nothing corner they've been backed into. The standoff is more poignant as it's a reckoning of Erwin's own past of valiantly using others as cannon fodder if only as a means to a strategic end. A man we now know to be possessed by the obsession of proving his father right, presses forward ceaselessly while never seeing a future beyond that and we're never given the time to fully digest that. "A Perfect Game", indeed. The speech manages to be heart wrenching every time. Including when the dub pops up in my music library.

Yuri on Ice S1 E10

Hot Take: Every sports anime is a BL. You cannot convince me otherwise. BUT THIS WORK OF ART!? Literally the exception that proves the rule. Episode 7 was GOOD. Like, "ohmygod-ohmygod-ohmygod, IT'S HAPPENING!" good. Episode 10 was a cultural reset ✨ and what I wouldn't give to see it for the first time all over again. From the viewer's perspective, Viktor picked up his life with one foot in a relationship when he decided to coach Yuuri. It was alluded to, hinted at, his susceptibility of Yuuri's affection should it ever be thrown his way but in an almost detached, puckish manner. A manner that frazzled Yuuri so he could never take it seriously. So what a comedy of errors to know, after finally finding a working rhythm and even exchanging rings, that Yuuri was the one who made the first move!? OMG. Iconic plot twist, truly. The bonus evidence of his champagne fueled revelry is one of my all time favorite bonus sequences.

My Hero Academia S3 E18, S6 E9 and Heroes Rising (Indirect Manga Spoiler Ch 337)

Maybe a bit biased since I'm most plugged into this series at the moment (I like GIFs and only get 9 a post), but here's a treasure trove of moments! I've recently gotten my niece and nephew into MHA and rewatched everything from S1 to the current season and all movies while seeing how they digest everything. I tried to tweet about it because it's truly novel seeing things for the first time through their eyes but didn't really keep up with it. Since I'm reading the manga (and need to pick back up on posting about it), I have a renewed perspective on certain moments so see below:

Iida rallying Aoyama from the figurative edge during the provisional exam and how it inspired Aoyama to sacrifice himself so someone he perceives as noble can be slingshot across the finish line. Humorous of course since we know Iida was like a hair away from murder a season or so ago. When this last ditch effort unites the rest of Class 1A and serves as an impetus for them all to pass together? BRUH. With what we've seen of Aoyama and what we later learn, rewatching this scene actually made me a bit more emotional as it added a layer to his duress that we don't comprehend just yet.

Bakugo's hero moment which mirrored Midoriya's own hero origin story. Don't get me wrong, Bakugo is no stranger to sacrificing himself. He and Midoriya make it a habit of saving one another. But this specific moment marks itself indelibly as deliberate insight into Bakugo's character growth because we hear his thoughts in that moment which seems to mirror Midoriya's. TBH, the episode was good but reading that for the first time? Phenomenal. It felt more impactful somehow.

The final fight scene against Nine with everyone coordinating to use their quirks to the best of their abilities while knowing they were outclassed. Bakugo and Midoriya seamlessly working together and then the (non-canonical IG) transfer of OFA with Deku risking quirklessness again and Bakugo warning him against it. *Cue Sarah McLachlan-esque soundtrack.*

Trigun (OG Run) S1 E 23

I slipped down the Adult Swim to Toonami pipeline of anime so Trigun was one of the first anime I fell in love with and kicked off an enduring adoration for characters voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch. Wolfwood's showdown with Evergreen and the subsequent scene at the church as he makes his peace before dying forever altered my brain chemistry. On the one hand, I loved Wolfwood's character as he played off of Vash so well, comedically. At odds but similarly aligned in the greater good though the means to the end weren't always in sync. I could appreciate the dissonance of his character, holy man who kills; unsavory priest, etc. So I would have been sad to see him go either way, but the life he imagined for himself as he was dying? Knife in the heart. Knowing that ultimately, legendary gunslinger Vash the Stampede made such a visceral impression on this ne'er do well priest, moreso than the God he served and that that was his undoing? Twist that knife, baby. That last bit I can appreciate much better as an adult where, as a kid, I could understand how moved I was without realizing the complexity of it. Truly devastating.

Fushigi Yugi S1 E33

I'm realizing that a lot of my favorite characters tend to be really irreverent and rough around the edges. These very same characters tend to have compelling depth beyond their surface level brashness and character growth that stays with me. Such is the case with the graceful and beautiful Nuriko of the Suzaku warriors. As a kid and also for a series of that period, I could understand that Nuriko had a rich complexity and appreciate the relief that they were accepted wholeheartedly by Miaka and the warriors. The character was so deeply steeped in grief that it defined them and muddled their identity over the course of their life. Upon finding a new mission, they were able to come into themselves but only by slowly letting that grief go. So it is ironic that this person, shortly after finding peace in who they were, was marked for a death that would critically galvanize Miaka and the rest of the warriors to carry on and see the mission through to the very end. This episode became a core memory and I distinctly remember bawling.

#neon asks #neon recs #manga with me #sk8 the infinity #attack on titan #yuri on ice #my hero academia #trigun #fushigi yuugi #anime #manga #aot #snk #shingeki no kyoujin #boku no hero academia #bnha #mha #vash the stampede #kaoru sakurayashiki #kojiro nanjo #erwin smith #levi ackerman #deku and kacchan #class 1a #eruri #matchablossom #bakudeku #dekubaku #ktdk #bkdk

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Last night, I decided to again look up a mystery that I got into during the summer. It was a subset of a larger mystery, the larger one got answered quite substantially but the subset did not.

Here’s what I have so far: I first found this video in the summer, when I decided to dedicate a week to figuring out what the fuck the Chocolate Milk Gang meant. I kept seeing it referred to as the name for a group of comedians from the 00s, and I got that they were grouped together because they were friends and appeared in each other’s shows at times, and I got that the name had something to do with them being seen as the nerdier side of things and chocolate milk being not the coolest drink in the world, but it really got to me that I kept finding little references that just said “Chocolate Milk Gang” like that’s a thing, and would not explain it to me. I eventually ended up finding the answer in David O’Doherty’s episode of the Comedian’s Comedian podcast – it’s because they got chocolate milkshakes together while everyone else was drinking alcohol after late shows at Edinburgh. Thank you, DO’D, that’s all I needed anyone to say.

But there was a while when I did not know this, and that while happened to occur while I did not have much going on at work and was experiencing some insomnia symptoms, so this seemed like a good time to fall hard down a rabbit hole of trying to figure stuff out. It was after an entire day spent going all A Beautiful Mind on the mystery – Googling different combinations of phrases and following all the links in one article like a rigorous student reading all the citations in one journal for an academic paper, getting distracted by little collections of videos of old stand-up nights that I happened to come across along the way, digging up increasingly obscure archived material. I enjoyed the process. That process is what started the hobby I have now, of just going through videos of old comedy festivals in general.

This particular video was one I found at 2 AM, after spending all day and all night up until then deep in the rabbit holes. I kept finding increasingly strange and obscure stuff, until I finally hit upon this one, and realized it was time to go to bed. I made a post at the time that joked that I had clearly already gone to bed and was having a fever dream, because this video does not fucking exist. Come on, this didn’t happen. But I think what I actually believed was that it seemed so weird to me because it was 2 AM and I had been sleep deprived lately and had spent so much time frying my brain with this mystery, and I’d look at it again in the morning and understand what was going on. Well I looked again in the morning, and… I mean you tell me if this makes any sense at any time of day:

So that became the sub-mystery: what the actual fuck are they doing? Not that I object. I sort of think comedy may have peaked on the night of August 26, 2003, and everything anyone has done since then is just trying to live up to that. I’m not sure this can be equaled. It might even be a little like the current storyline in the Night Vale podcast, which is about how the beauty’s in the unknown and the surreal, and explaining a mystery ruins it. Maybe that would be the case with this. But I want to know anyway.

I spent some time on this mystery a few months ago, and then moved on with life. But it came back to me last night, because I’ve finally got back to coaching practices (after contracting COVID at one and being too anxious about going there again for some time, preferring instead to bury myself in this sort of bullshit, videos like this might imitate fever dreams but can’t literally cause them), and last night at practice, Lose Yourself came on. I immediately started giggling and humming “I can’t see at all” under my breath, in honour of the time Adam Hills forgot what Eminem song he’d been singing in the middle of a sequence, and went from Lose Yourself to Stan. Last week, Adam Hills began the 26th season of the popular Channel 4 show he’s been hosting for ten years, and during that opening episode, he showed off his recently received MBE. But to me, he remains first and foremost the guy who switched Eminem songs while rapping about Daniel Kitson, David O’Doherty, Demitri Martin, and John Oliver taking apart a cow. Just like to me, Lose Yourself is now first and foremost the song that played while that occurred, even though it comes on somewhat often at my actual sports practices and tournaments, because this Britcom thing that was supposed to just be a distraction during lockdowns has invaded my real life.

Anyway. This made me decide to revisit the mystery. Here's a recap of what I already knew. This occurred on August 26, the last night of the 2003 Edinburgh Festival. At first, I thought the cow must have been on stage every night, because you also see it in this video, posted by the same channel (a channel that I assume is run by the Gilded Balloon, the venue in Edinburgh where this occurred):

However, I have since learned that both of those videos are from the same night. I learned that because I found another video, posted by a different person, that’s a montage of events from August 26. It includes both another angle on the cow destroying, and the beginning of the Kitson vs. DO’D rap battle that ended with the video above. I remain fucking amazed that this one exists, that the night when comedy peaked has been captured twice in forms that can be found on the internet nearly twenty years later.

By the way, I’m being… like, 90% facetious, maybe? About the whole comedy peaking with that night thing. And that might seem like a high number, but for a claim like that, anything below 100 is pretty bold. Like I am joking but I also genuinely think about all the different aspects that came together in this, a cumulation of things from before and an influence on what came after, that’s a hell of a lot of the good aspects of comedy in one spot. Anyway, here’s the second video:

In this, we see that the cow was there all night, and importantly, that early in the night, Daniel Kitson was on it and was playing the crowd about it. Pointing out that they kept challenging him to do unimpressive things, like jump off it. This suggests that the cow was not there every night, as if it were, the crowd would not be that excited about it by the final night. It was clearly a novelty to them. Also, I know it wasn’t there every night because I’ve found this montage from the same show on August 19, 2003, about a week earlier:

As you can see, no cow in that one. So I’m guessing it was only there on the last night, that’s why the crowd made such a big deal about it. From this, I formed a theory a while ago that maybe the idea to end the show that way came from what you see at the beginning of the August 26 montage. That video shows Kitson complaining that the crowd was giving him insufficiently difficult cow-related challenges – it’s possible that after the video cut off, the crowd challenged him to take the thing apart, and he went with it, making that the end to the night.

The issue is that I’m not sure whether they could do that, if they hadn’t planned it beforehand. I suppose whether you can do that depends on what the hell the cow was. After a comment I got on here from a helpful person, followed by a bit of my own Googling, I think the answer is it was an art installations, possibly as part of the international Cow Parade. The flaw in this theory is that the cow parade was not in Edinburgh in 2003, but it was in London in 2002, and I remember reading something that said the remaining I cannot find again that said the cows may have been distributed around the UK after the London festival ended. I don’t know why I can’t find it again, but I’m almost sure I’ve seen something that said that. So that cow could have been left over from the previous year’s London Cow Parade, sent to Edinburgh to spread art or some shit.

The other flaw in that theory is that the cow says “Metro” on it, which doesn’t seem like what one would expect in an art instillation. A YouTube comment on one of the videos from that night says: “I was there too!  One of the funniest comedic nights ever.  The Metro cow got smashed in two and crowd surfed over everyone out the back door....” That commenter said “the Metro cow”, not “a cow that said Metro on it”, in a way that suggests other people at the time, who were familiar with the Edinburgh Festival, would know what the Metro cow was. So maybe it was just a piece of advertising for Metro, a cow with that word on it moving around the festival. Maybe it was a leftover piece of art from the London Cow Parade that Metro had painted with its logo to display throughout the Edinburgh Festival, and actually, destroying it at the end of the festival was the Chocolate Milk Gang’s way of protesting against art being turned into advertisement (I’m definitely joking about that being a possibility but that would be awesome if it were the case).

My best guess is that it moved around the Edinburgh Festival throughout August, and was at the Gilded Balloon for the last night. This would explain why the crowd was excited about it and why the YouTube commenter called it “the Metro cow” - it was a sort of festival mascot that everyone knew about. But on the night in question, it was still an exciting novelty to see it in that particular location, which is why they were shouting at Daniel Kitson to do things with it. The question is whether it was moved to the Gilded Balloon and then they decided to take it apart, or whether it was moved to the Gilded Balloon because they decided to end the festival by having the Late ‘n’ Live people take apart the de facto mascot.

The origins of the cow matter (I mean... as much as any of this matters, which is quite a lot and I won’t hear otherwise) because how important it is tells us whether they could just decide, between the beginning and the end of a show, to destroy it. I’m thinking that whether it’s an advertisement owned by Metro, or some piece of art, they wouldn’t be allowed to just take it apart without permission. So they probably planned it beforehand, which means the whole thing did not just come from Daniel Kitson agreeing to a challenge from the audience. On the other hand, it’s my understanding that “anything can happen” is the point of the Late ‘n’ Live thing, and maybe that cow was only meant to be there for the festival and they were going to get rid of it anyway after that festival ended, so it wasn’t a big deal to decide to actually take it apart on the final night.

Beyond this, I can look to the video itself for clues as to what the fuck was going on. At the beginning, Adam Hills says they have “three chances”, which suggests it was some sort of challenge, whether one issued by the audience at the beginning of the night or one planned out beforehand. I’m also not sure how they measure those chances, since it’s not like they took only three shots at it. They just went at the cow until it came apart.

One guess is maybe the three chances are John Oliver, David O’Doherty, and Demitri Martin. Maybe the challenge was to see if only three people could get the cow apart. The flaw in that theory is that Kitson ends up jumping in to help, so if those were the parametres then they failed the task. But Kitson jumps in after he sees that they’re getting nowhere, after he gives up on joining Adam’s comedic narration and just starts giving instructions (“combine the chisel and the hammer”), clearly realizing that if they don’t start using a better system, they’ll be there all night. He may just have worked out that parametres be dammed, if he didn’t actually get in and help they would never be able to finish this fucking show and go get their chocolate milkshakes.

Evidence that this was not planned beforehand seems to occur at 1:28, when someone walks in from off stage and hands John Oliver a pipe. If they had planned this better, they’d have all come in with tools, instead of John just going at it with his bare hands and feet until he was given a weapon that looks like it was recently scrounged from a dumpster.

There is this line of Adam Hills’ song (which are a couple of words I can’t write without thinking of Tim Minchin, but that’s a separate thing): “There was a fire at the Gilded Balloon. The police found no one else was to blame. If this season doesn’t go well, this fucking venue’s going up in flames.” This is at true story. In December 2002, about eight months before this video was recorded, there was a huge fire in that area, doing significant damage to the Gilded Balloon, which is the venue where this took place. The Gilded Balloon was rebuilt, obviously, because they still needed a place to host rap battles and cow destroying challenges. But it had, in fact, recently gone up in flames. And I think Adam Hills was implying that if they didn’t make enough money from that year’s festival they’d have to burn it down again, but I’m not quite sure, and I don’t think he was either, he wasn’t even sure what Eminem song he was singing.

But here’s the thing I only learned while looking this up yesterday. Look at this article:

On this day 2002: Cowgate fire devastates Edinburgh's Old Town

I’ve checked, and Cowgate seems to be the name of the street and/or neighbourhood. The Gilded Balloon itself is not on Cowgate Street, but there is a street right next to it called Cowgate street, and I think the whole area around that street is called Cowgate. This is probably a coincidence, but it’s definitely a fun coincidence, given that "Cowgate” would be a pretty good name for the events of that first video. It turns out that Cowgate actually took place in an area called Cowgate. And it’s possible that somewhere along the chain of events, that’s not a coincidence. Maybe Metro advertised there with a cow because it’s Cowgate.

A few months ago when I first found this, I briefly wondered if there was another connection, in one way or another. Maybe they destroyed a cow because they were called the Chocolate Milk Gang and they thought that would be funny, or maybe they named themselves the Chocolate Milk Gang because they’d destroyed a cow together. I formed that theory before finding the actual answer to the CMG’s name meaning, and now that I have found that, I’m quite sure that their milk based name + participation in Cowgate is just a coincidence. Cowgate occurring in a place called Cowgate is probably a coincidence too, but it’s one that I like.

I think that’s all I have, at the moment, in terms of explaining what the fuck they were doing on that night. I do like I found the detail about it taking place in Cowgate, though, because I am absolutely going to refer to that event as Cowgate from now on. Please let me know if you have any information about the events of August 26, 2003, at the Gilded Balloon in Edinburgh, Scotland, also known as Cowgate.

[thespoonisvictory]

Thoughts on chungledown bim

I JUST watched that part of the fabian trip sequence where he's running from him and the sexy rat and everything about it is peak comedy to me. Brennan is doing a fantastic job with this and I am scared and crying etc etc, but he did an even better job with the sheer raw cartoony terror of that scene

#asks #fantasy high spoilers

[disappointingyet]

Desert Blue

Director Morgan J Freeman Stars Brendan Sexton III, Kate Hudson, Christina Ricci, Ethan Suplee, Casey Affleck USA 1998 Language English 1hr 30mins Colour

Kids kill time in the middle of nowhere, fame looms for a couple of them

[Minor spoilers for this and a Wes Anderson movie]

American Graffiti … Diner …  Dazed And Confused … Desert Blue? … Short Term 12. I mean, no, that’s not actually a sequence, and yet it sort of could have been. Unlike Graffiti, Diner and D&C, this is not a much-loved classic that was also the calling card for a generation of actors. Nor is it Short Term 12, a film that’s maybe more admired than endlessly rewatched but certainly did an astonishing job of talent-spotting. But this low-key comedy-drama about teens in tiny desert town – made for $2 million – does have an impressive collection of young folk on the rise in 1998. 

Alongside the kids, you’ve got recognisable adults in John Heard, Michael Ironside (actually quite bad here) and Daniel van Bargen, whose name you probably don’t know but was the angry cop or army guy in so many things you’ve seen.

And fitting between the two groups in age is Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, who plays an FBI agent here but seems to be reaching her peak in her fifties, getting an Oscar nomination in 2021, appearing in the new Color Purple last year – when she was also great in Justified: City Primeval – and starring in Origin, which as out in cinemas as I write this.  (Oh, yeah, and Sara Gilbert's in this too.)

While I was watching Desert Blue again, I had a nagging memory of something I had seen not long ago. A bunch of young people quarantined in tiny place in the desert that only survives because of a tourist attraction… ah! It's Asteroid City, isn't it? Parts of the set-up are quite similar, although everything else isn’t. 

In Desert Blue, the kids are largely locals: Blue (Brendan Sexton III), who is stubbornly working on his late father’s bizarre project of a water park in the arid landscape, Ely (Christina Ricci), who likes blowing stuff up, Kepler (Casey Affleck), who races quad bikes (they all ride them though), Cale (Ethan Suplee), who wants to be a sheriff even though all his mates are the ones the authorities harass, and Haley (Isidra Vega), who works in the town’s only shop. 

Then, one day, into town comes Skye (Kate Hudson), who is apparently a TV star but none of them has heard of her because cable hasn’t reached there yet. She’s reluctantly on a tour of roadside attractions with her dad (John Heard), who is a cultural studies academic.Skye just wants to get out of this dusty nowhere as quickly as possible, but – of course – events will conspire to keep her and her dad there long enough to interact with the locals. 

In my memory, this was a film in which very little happened, in a pleasurable way. Rewatching it, it turns out to be a movie in which it feels like nothing is happening even though there are at least five events that would be extremely dramatic if they took place in your life and which would be played up in most fiction. Here, though, because they seem to have minimal consequences, it’s like they barely happened. And that’s why the lingering memory is kids buzzing around on their quad bikes or sitting around a fire drinking, rather than (eg) committing a felony. 

Kate Hudson is well-cast as the Hollywood princess descending on this grubby place. Christina Ricci is prime 1998 Christina Ricci – her mates all have pretty nondescript looks (apart from Affleck’s occasional headgear) but she’s of course goth. And exploding shit. Sexton is kind of… unobjectionable… but not very interesting as the heart of the story. Casey Affleck and Michael Ironside are surprisingly rubbish. 

So who were these people at this point in history? Let me reiterate Kate Hudson is the female lead in this film, that she plays the character whose appearance is pivotal. And then tell you that this is her first credited role in a movie (she’s apparently a carol singer in Home Alone.) Maybe she’d done some TV? Two episodes of EZ Streets, whatever that was, and one of Party Of Five. On the other hand, of course, her mother and step-father were huge movie stars. Her break-through role in Almost Famous was two years away. 

Ricci, on the other hand, was in some ways at the peak of her career, a veteran at the age of 18. She’d got off to a big start in 1990 Mermaids with Cher and Winona Ryder and then memorably played Wednesday Addams (still, it seems, a star-making role these days)   in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values. Through the 1990s she balanced kids movies (Casper) with not-kids stuff (Bastard Out Of Carolina) until ’97 and Ang Lee’s massively acclaimed The Ice Storm. With the Wednesday Addams attitude intact but now in her late teens when it played differently, she became the embodiment of stroppy youth. 

She was in six movies with 1998 release dates, not including the voice she did for the very enjoyable Small Soldiers. Desert Blue is probably the fifth most high-profile of these – I know nothing about I Woke Up Early The Day I Died, in which she is credited just as ‘Teenage Hooker’. She’s the lead in The Opposite Of Sex, which got some buzz – I hated it. She’s got a small but notable role in Terry Gilliam’s Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas. I can’t remember her particularly in John Waters’ Pecker, but I liked the movie and she was an obvious fit for a Waters film. And she’s in Buffalo ’66, more thoughts on which you can find here. 

And then… well, a long working career but (to use a semi-obsolete way of looking at these things) at no later point would you have put her on the cover of a magazine. A lot  of that, I think, is to do with a persona that Hollywood endorses in teenage girls but judges unappealing in adult women. Rather than working out what next to do with Ricci, they went looking for newer versions of the same thing. Indeed, Thora Birch – two years younger and Ricci’s co-star in Now And Then – seemed to have slotted into being the ‘next Christina Ricci’ as early as 1999! And then gone on to have a similar career – she’s in a bunch of stuff, but mostly I haven’t even heard of it. (Although she was in The Last Black Man In San Francisco, but I guess I didn’t recognise her in that.)

Finally, Casey Affleck – like Hudson, he was more famous for who was related to than for his own work, especially as the film he was in right before Desert Blue was Good Will Hunting. (To non-cinema bores, he probably still is essentially ‘Ben’s brother’ to this day.) Worth pointing out, maybe, that he was the first of the Affleck-Damon clique to work with Gus Van Sant (in To Die For). His rise was more of a slow-burn, though. 

So does Desert Blue deserve to be better remembered? Not necessarily, but it’s a film I remain reasonably fond of – it’s a film about people hanging out, and it lets you hang out with them. It’s very low key, very of its moment and if you like a 1990s teen indie movie where even when stuff blows up it’s no big deal, then this could be for you. 

#1990s indie movies #1998 movies #desert blue

[1legitconnor]

Get to Know Better Tag

Thanks for tagging me, @blind-the-winds!

Rules: answer the questions and tag nine people you want to get to know better.

3 Ships: Caitlyn/Vi from Arcane. Leslie/Ben from Parks & Rec. Arya/Gendry from Game of Thrones. My biggest ships are my own OCs, but that’s for me to delve into in my WIPs. But basically I’m on board with any legit power couple that don’t have a toxic relationship with each other (so Joker/Harley are off the table for example, but I do have my own villain power couple that, with each other, have a healthy relationship, so they’re on the table.) As another note, Abed/Annie would be a runner-up to this list if they didn’t work better as best friends than they would as an actual couple.

First Ever Ship: Oof, I have no idea. I think I’m going to say Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith. I saw that movie when I was like 10 or 11 and it definitely shaped what I still think of when I think of what I want in a story. Peak action comedy. Great action. Great comedy. Great combination of the two. And the entire final sequence of the movie? As in everything post resolving differences and deciding to be an actual couple? *chef’s kiss* Surviving the ambush, leaning on outside friendships, the car chase, the stealth kills in the shopping center, and the final shootout where they’re perfectly in sync? Absolute perfection and you can probably definitely find ripples of that movie in all of my fictional couples.

Last Song: If we’re doing songs I listened to myself and not the Christmas music that’s been playing out loud in my home this morning, then “Best Friend” by Yelawolf ft. Eminem

Last Movie: Just watched Barbie: Rapunzel with the fam, so that. Speaking of which, I’m hyped for the live action Barbie movie. It’s going to be amazing

Currently Reading: Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson. Some of my friends recommended it to me (I’m actually reading their copy of it). I’m still near the beginning and it’s interesting, but very dense so far. Lots of world building right out of the gate, so it did take me about the entire first chapter to adjust to the speed I had to absorb new information at.

Currently Watching: So many things. My wife and I are watching a handful of shows together, but one show that I’m currently working my way through by myself is Better Call Saul, which I’m in the second season of. It’s been very enjoyable so far.

Currently Consuming: I’m thinking about having leftover chili fries for lunch. If not, then maybe some Ramen or something.

Currently Craving: Ice cream? It’s actually been awhile since I’ve had any. For me anyway. I used to have it way more often than the rate I’m currently eating it at, mainly for budget reasons. Hoping to return to consuming it at a higher rate soon though. Also, I could go for some Chinese takeout right about now.

Tagging: Anybody who wants to? I’m on mobile, so I don’t have an efficient way to find 9 accounts I want to tag without doing a lot of back and forth between pages and I’m hungry, lol

#about me

[falsebooles123]

Well Fuck I Just Lost that last half hour of blogging and memes- Diary of a big ole gay 12/10/22

Hey whores guess who accidentaly pressed CRTL-Z on my computer and erased everything.

yeah so I'm a little pissed so your getting a fast and hot recap of what I;ve been watching.

Last night I watched Backstage and Bumping in Broadway both from 1919 added because someone somewhere felt there brief drag scenes made them important to queer cinema and when I made this list I was too stupid on the subject to disagree on there queer import. Everything else is as fallows

Hamlet(1922) - Asta Nielsen is a femboy hamlet its basically the worlds first bishonen comedy (I'm gonna have to sit down and add all the versions of Twelth Night to my plalist now.) it has a lot of queer energy but ultimately ends with the classic, "Hey babe I got tits so its totally cool that you were gay for me"

Manslaughter (1922) - Lietrich Joy, (remember that name) is a DANGER GIRL and shes having fun drinking and doing the pogo sticking, entil her daddy dom whos just honestly way to arosed by the fall of rome convincts her of manslaughter, tbf she did murder that cop but he didn't have to be a dick about it. This film actually does have two lesbains kissing in it. but its also in a fantasy sequence thats using lesbianism as a way of signeling the moral decay of the debached roman orgys so I mean we don't that. However this is the most explicet level of homosexual activity actually shown up to this point which is kinda sad.

Salome (1922) - this shit literally makes me want to be a drag queen because I don't see anybody on RPDR serving gibson girl realness. Salome is a film that was supposedly made my an entire cast of fags, dykes, and glitterqueens and it is the very definition of camp. This rumor comes from Kenneth Anger of all people and is based on a play by Oscar Wilde. So yeah this is peak gay culture but nobody actually kisses. (at least nobody gay Salome makes out with the head of John the Baptist but what else is new)

The Clinging Vine (1926) - Leatrice Joy is literally the most butch women I've ever seen and I would die for her. Lesbians please watch the first 20 minutes of this film. Then she has a fem makeover and the last 2/3 of this film are boring, and normyhet, and shes in love with the worlds most stupiest man. like he is so dumb.

Sex In Chains (1928) - credited as one of the "Gay-Themed Films of the German Silent Film Era" this film is basically a couple being so fucking horny all the time that they just fuck the newest hole they can find. one of those holes is a dude. You get more fade to black but in this one, (unfortunently not with the awful version I watched), his prison wife also shows up with flowers, then they just kill themselfs together in a joint suicide. Yeah the ending was a lot.

Laurel and Hardy in Liberty (1929) - This was from the 80s queer cinema article I found, (I need to blog about the resources at some point but tomorrow I'm taking a break from this and just watching netflix and working on my journals), basically they just keep trying to switch pants for plot reasons and people think there tyring to suck and fuck on the street.

Lot In Sodom (1933) - An experimental film based on the story of sodom and gomorah from the bible, honestly giving kenneth anger vibes.

Ok whores for some reason this entire article has now stressed me out so I'm gonna do a little bit more research and watch some short films on my watchlist to mellow out the night. Love you and thank you for helping me through this

#diary #queer cinema #movies

[protagonistheavy]

We finished a full rewatch of MLP:FiM, which makes this my, like, third time going through the series lol. But it's also the first time I watched the whole show in order, rather than skipping around or watching randomly. It provided some clarity on how I feel about the progression of the series and distinguished which seasons were good and which seasons stunk.

Definitely the peak of the series is seasons 3-5, where you generally have the best collection of episodes as well as interesting story arcs that get better with each season, culminating with my favorite season finale episodes, the Cutie Re-Mark. The first two seasons are passably charming, just limited with their scope due to still being geared very strongly as a young childrens' program, but what I always find particular about these first seasons is how much slapstick comedy there is -- I guess the writers wanted to pull back on the "mean" comedy going forward.

The second half of the series unfortunately goes on a constant decline. Seasons 6 and 7 are mostly fine, just dotted with episodes that were especially boring. The bigger story arcs get weaker in execution, there are no more memorable villains being included at this point. And I can pinpoint that it's these seasons when the show starts relying HEAVILY on montage sequences; almost every episode has some section of various activities being skimmed over, which I feel is just the most boring of routes when writing an episode.

But wow the last two seasons are just frankly bad, with only a few mediocre/good episodes between them. These seasons come after the movie, which btw, was a lot worse on a rewatch lmao. Not only was the movie just bland and uninteresting, but the main series really attaches to some of its elements -- without being allowed to like, actually USE those elements directly. So we get mentions of the Storm King, but we dont actually see him ever again, and we hear about some of the characters from the movie, but never see them involved, even when it would sorta make sense to.

Anyway. The last two seasons just suck. Beyond a LOT of outright boring episodes, the writers here just seem to have tripped backwards in time and unlearned everything the show had already covered lol. Characters act their absolute worst here, with so many episodes depicting them with backwards traits, or essentially repeating lessons they already learned. There's a FEW fun episodes involving the friendship students, but they largely have a lot of wasted potential, especially as individuals -- we're almost always seeing them as a whole group, never in pairs or by themselves for very long, which makes them uncompelling all together. The songs generally drop in quality, the animation tries WAY too hard with wAcKy faces that it's very hit or miss in execution...

but god nothing is worse than the overarching plots these seasons. Cozy Glow just generally did not fascinate me since she had "villain" written all over her from the beginning, so these exaggerated good-girl traits are just obnoxious to trudge through. I hate that the show NEVER spelled out any motivation for her, and as a result, she exists as this anomaly of a character with no lore, no history, no attachments... It sucks a lot that she gets to be a permanent part of the villain trio, but they decided to write out King Sombra immediately. The villain plotline here is so, so badly mishandled... I really dont understand why Sombra had to be removed, but since the villains here only get glimpses of relevancy despite being the end-game threat, maybe it's for the best that they didnt have to ration out screentime for him too.

God the final season's plot is just terrible and I've complained about it so much. But. It has to be said again. Discord just 100% sucks here. He's written so poorly, and the story just doesnt care. His motivations are so dumb, and his hands are washed of any blame almost instantly after receiving any backlash. And the worst part is that it would have been SO much easier to write this in a way that makes more sense, which is just to change Discord's motivation to a sincere one -- that he genuinely wanted to trick the villains into learning the values of friendship, so that he could reform them similarly to how he himself was reformed. It is a SLAP IN THE BALLS that instead, the writers did THE EXACT OPPOSITE and had him actively encourage that these villains be turned to stone -- the villains that HE FREED, effectively EXECUTED because of CRIMES HE ARRANGED THEM TO DO. And it only gets WORSE when you remember the earlier Discord quote, "At least I dont turn ponies into stone : )" It's so baffling that the series could even end on this note, that no one in the production team was like "wait wait wait, haven't we written multiple times that turning people into stone or trapping them in the moon is no way to resolve an actual issue, and that it just delays the inevitable return of that problem?" THIS WAS LITERALLY THE SPECIFIC THEME FOR SEAON 7'S FINALE, how the hell did they so quickly forget this lesson???

God that infuriates me so much. And it doesnt help that the actual series finale, the very last episode, is just not very good either, for what it couldve been. An extremely straightforward take on how to conclude the show, written in the most boring way possible: Twilight is nervous about leaving Ponyville, and every one of her friends puts on a happy-face to encourage her rather than be honest about missing her when she leaves. Afterwards, all of them fuck up a royal ceremony in some way. What a lame-ass way to show these characters off for the final time, and it sucks too that their timeskip appearances look more like super-forms akin to their elemental transformations, rather than realistic portrayals of how theyd age. Ughhh

But wow this show is so awesome to watch. I highly doubt this will be the last time I'll watch g4, it's extremely rewatchable and has so many great episodes to revisit, with a lot of background stuff happening to keep an out for when running through the series again. Anyway. Now we're watching She-Ra again lol.

[antiloreolympus]

10 Anti LO Asks

1. im sorry, yall cant tell me RS is some peak of writing when she can't even keep a tone consistent in a single episode. one second its a horrific sequence of violence and abuse for shock value, then the next second theyre making slapstick "jokes" and making goofy expressions. its good to have moments of comedy and lighter episodes to break up the tension, but those tonal whiplashes cant be forced together in nearly every episode. it just gives away rachel doesn't know what she's doing.

2. IDK why RS sounds so angry in her break post? Yeah it's very obvious it was Webtoons making her to do it but them finally showing some care for their creators to not burn out isn't a bad thing? I doubt the writing will improve or the art will go back to its former standard once it comes back, its too late for that now and her former style has been gone since 2019, but having a break isn't a bad idea. I know she isn't used to actually being told what to do by Webtoons is right in this scenario.

From OP: So, from another webtoon creator on twitter, the Remarried Empress creator went on break and only got like 1/10 of their income when they came back. Other webtoon creators were also saying that while on break, their income is basically non-existent. This might not be the reason RS wouldn’t want a break but this is a pretty understandable reason, especially since it’ll affect her livelihood.

3. I don't think an asexually budded kid would have hades lusting after them, i think it would be bad in the fact hades clearly only sees family through biological means. the bad dynamic would be in he wouldnt accept the child because theyre not what he wants because theyre not from him physically. if that wasnt the case he would have doted after young thanatos like a prince since he would be the child he never had, not mistreat and abuse him like how hades actually treated him as a literal child.

4. it should also be pointed out stuff like PJO and Hades game almost entirely get critiqued because they actually implement being diverse and inclusive and even (gasp) have main characters and relationship be BIPOC and LGBTQ+, so it's usually pissy white kids hating on them, meanwhile LO critics are the exact opposite in being overwhelming BIPOC queer women and people calling out its main gross, status quo protecting choices and regrssive ideals. i'm just saying their critiques are not the same.

5. LMAOOOO guys what if the "dread queen" persephone we see isnt actually her, but the asexuality budded heir she makes for hades? like RS just puts all P's negative traits in this kid (Melinoe maybe? she is the goddess of nightmares) and has her be the dread bringer while P gets to stay the uwu precious bean queen, and its just a fake out of her "daughter" being confused for her because theyre clones of each other. the panel stays canon w/o actually developing P. thats my fan theory now.

6. tbh if LO started out with the more simple style there would still be art critique but not to such a degree now. we saw how much effort it used to have, so to see such a stark decline since then opens it up way more to criticism for it, because we do know what it once was, and it seems both pure laziness and burn out has caused it to entirely go away. even rs' non lo art now is all in the more current rushed style, so its safe to say that old style is just not coming back, sorry to say :(

7. i feel like a lot of the stans dont get that a lot of frustration at LO is the fact its a very subpar product, especially now, made by an entitled white woman who constantly whines about "haters" who gets everything handed to her for her mediocre work (which is often the work of her underpaid team), meanwhile many more talented, hardworking, and diverse creators (like her own co-workers) who are making so much better products are left in the dirt. How is that not frustrating?

8. I feel like the anon who likes Thanatos and Minthe being likeable and the anon talking about Persephone never being able to stand up for herself/ never being punished go well together.

Minthe and Thanatos do face consequences for their actions. Hermes doing more souls behind Hades back made Thaantos look worse on paper and Hades chewed his ass out for it. Thanatos went to Helios and was burned. We even see Thanatos get nervous when Daphne talks about a Persephone. He’s aware of his actions and what may happen.

Minthe is also aware of her faults actions etc. after she slaps hades she says she needs to apologize, she knows what she did was wrong to Persephone when she sees it on the camera and freaks out. She even wonders why Persephone hasn’t ratted her out yet until it’s used as black mail. Minthe apologizes to hades right before she knows they’re gonna fight about the break up. She even sulks after her fight with Thetis but doesn’t blame anyone else but herself. I’m excluding when Hades fires her because Hades brought her as an employee first into his life girlfriend second and treated her as disposable and tried to smooth things over by just throwing money at her(I’ll pay for your schooling if you never try to bring up the fact I dumped you for a 19 year old, no hard feelings right?;)

But Persephone the worst she is aware is that she’s bad at her job that she doesn’t even do any more. Persephone is just a cloud in the sky not aware of her own actions but that’s fine since they have no consequences and if there’s almost consequences don’t worry hades will throw money at the problem.

I wouldn’t say Minthe and Thanatos are likeable because they face consequences but they’re more rounded out characters with flaws, power in their narrative, overcoming and hiding faults. 

9. Persephone telling Hades she will explain to him why torturing mortals is wrong and why Elysium is needed is basically "I can fix him" narration. Change my mind

10. That’s it too bc other than Hers and Persephone (which really isn’t a “mentor” relationship and has some rather gross things about it considering Hera only cares about her for Hades’ sake) there’s no genuinely good female relationships of any sort. Daphne and the nymphs are just said “to be like sisters” to Persephone but we see no actual proof of this. There’s no good mother and daughter relationships with Demeter, Métis, Leto, even Hera to her own children. The only decent mother relationship is towards Rhea and her SON Hades. Minthe and Thetis were horribly toxic with Thetis especially taking advantage of Minthe. Artemis and Persephone aren’t friends at all, Persephone is instead closer to a guy who had her kidnapped and basically forced her to admit she was SA’d to him! Hera only likes Echo because she’s “one of the good ones” and it’s a gross repeat of HxP being a boss lusting after their worker, but it’s a #diversity win because it’s between two women? I suppose the only “ok” female relationship is Athena and Hestia, but that also comes with the fact they’re the only confirmed LGBTQ+ rep used to oppress the poor straight couple, are still hyper gendered in their designs, and from Rachel’s own mouth is deeply ace-phobic and a horrible depiction of actual gay relationships. For something claiming to be about women and female empowerment, it fails on every front to even show women as anything other than props for the mens’ consumption and benefit. 

#anti lo #anti lore olympus #lore olympus critical #lo critical

[lnevada]

More Questions than Answers ~ S2E4 Breakdown

Ray is so needy.

As much as I want all the friends to be friends, it’s very important to me that blood siblings (especially twins) are close, so Miles showing such drastic care and concern for Mika is reassuring.

Henry has all the kids’ numbers (good big brother/cousin vibes).

I don’t know it for a fact, I just know that it’s true that Cooper gives the best hugs.

I kinda, sort of think Henry and Schwoz only hugged once in HD, so seeing them two hug is kinda more important at this point than seeing Henry and Ray hug (since they always do).

The couple’s therapy session 🥳.

Love that the girls politely, casually greet Henry and want to catch up, as opposed to the guys (apart from Miles since he was stressed about Mika) who just take for granted Henry (literally) appearing in mid-air to go on an adventure.

Ray saying ‘that’s my girl’ to both kids and him not having favorites is peak dad/guardian moment.

My biggest complaint is it felt as though the episode should have been extended. None of the comedy bits had time to breathe. None of the friend/group scenes felt overly tight/organic (like catching up with Henry; he immediately has to leave at the end, which for real life purposes makes sense, but still). Everything (including the fight sequence) felt rushed and like everything sort of just worked itself out/circumstantial.

Miles saying he (the group) would send Drex to hell is kind of violent/adult for this show, which I appreciate.

Ray is so needy, 2x. 🥰

Henry saying he misses being there (reflective, I’m sure, for the actor).

Schwoz chasing RT’s headless body. Also, Chapa being a savage and good with torture ideas (if it was her idea; making Ray proud no doubt).

Open-ended episodes leave lots of room for theories, debates, and HCs! Namely, both Henry and Drex can and likely will come back, eventually. But I for one want it to wait at least till end of S3, if not later than that.

Is Henry’s new plan to hunt/kill Drex? He technically can’t (although I have theories as to get around his power), but that’s also majorly violent and going further than he ever has as a superhero. Drex is bad news, but to kill him? Is it a byproduct of working in Dystopia (and that begs the question, has he killed before), or is he growing increasingly more vigilante as the series progresses (like Ray is)?

Drex would have QUITE LITERALLY fallen on top of Ray when they fell off the roof together (for the last time). Ray let him escape? Drex got away? An example of a sequence/scene that could and should have been expanded upon/shown in an extend version of the episode.

And another thing! Why does Drex want revenge on Henry (more so/over) rather than on Ray? I guess Drex can’t kill Ray (again, ask me about my theories….) and perhaps he was unaware of Henry’s new superpower (which practically renders Henry indestructible), but Henry? He has way less history with Henry and can physically overpower Henry (and did, all the time). I’m genuinely curious! Just seemed circumstantial/out of place.

This isn’t my hot take, but my mother’s and I’ll mention it because it made me sad and it would be so perfect(!): are all the ‘old man jokes’ about Ray foreshadowing for when he ‘has to retire’ at the end of the series (when the series is just canonically over) and he’s going to give the superhero keys to the kingdom to the kids he helped train/raise? Sad but poetic, and likely true.

Lastly, I assumed they would say Drex ran away to Dystopia to commit crimes away from Swellview/Captain Man’s reach and Henry could deal with him. But, Henry’s just going to go nomad AND lone wolf to hunt him across the country and who knows where?

What is with the writers’ aversion to saying Charlotte and Jasper’s names? Henry’s going to forget them and not return to Dystopia? Leave them there? Have they already left to become ‘functioning adults’? A sentence would be all I ask but not even that. I guess it’s to keep their stories open-ended too. But, what the hell are they doing?! And they won’t be worried about Henry? THEM OF ALL PEOPLE?! Who will watch over the town that’s gotten use to having 3 superheroes? Too many questions. Requires fanfiction to fix plot holes. Maybe some day.

Sad this season is so short. Can’t imagine what happened on the production side of things to cause that (and I don’t want to put negative thoughts out there 😬). But it looks to be renewed for at least one more season. Maybe it’ll have more episodes overall as well. One can hope (if you’re insane, like me 🤫).

Christmas special next week and I already know who the guest star/antagonist is. I have high hopes based on his first appearance, so I’ll be going off on it - one way or the other. (Please be queer, please be queer, please be queer, it’s all I want for Christmas!!). Probably asking too much of Nickelodeon, right 😉.

#henry danger #danger force #henry danger drex #danger force special #ask me about my fandoms #let’s interact #ray manchester #captain man #schwoz schwartz #fanfiction writer #multi fandom blog #df theories #df spoilers #henry hart

[phati-sari]

Greetings PS, I just checked the hyper attunement gifset and that was absolutely wonderful - it was one of my personal favorite things in the show because of how beautifully it was done - so thanks for giffing it! Toh, one sawaal if you'd like to answer, do you have any favorites from there? Or just feel free to give any two cents about it - whatever you want. Hope you've been doing well :) Take care. AJ.

Hi hi hi AJ :)

Thank you very much! It’s one of my favourites too (okay look, I know I say that about everything but a girl can have loads of favourites!). I’m very proud of it. And I too love this aspect of the serial :) :)

My gif sets are usually my favourite instances of a certain aspect or trope of the serial, rather than attempts at showing every single instance, so in a way this is already a curated list. But let’s go through them one by one:

The original subtitle of this gifset was “It began with sneezing and ended with telepathy” (you can still see it in the URL because Tumblr likes to keep track of all our crimes). So the first gif was always going to be this: sneezing together after their car park adventure. I just find this moment adorable.

This, I could write essays on: the first instance of The Awareness. And for me, the most powerful thing is that Arnav knows Khushi is there. He doesn’t question the feeling -- this man who no longer believes in religion, who doesn’t believe love is for him -- he just stands up and mouths her name and goes looking for her.

Finally, Khushi aa gayi!

When I watch these episodes, I always wonder just how close Arnav was to getting on a helicopter and flying to Lucknow (... and hence Tere Bin). And that moment of disbelieving hope when he feels her is amazing -- Sobti was excellent! -- before he shrugs it off and continues with the preparations.

I firmly believe Arnav is feeling Khushi’s distress in this scene. The way her agony is spliced with his, the way he paces and stares at the cut on his hand, such angst, many wow. It’s like he has all this pain and he doesn’t know where it’s coming from, he just knows it’s connected to Khushi.

Arnav and Khushi know about their connection. They don’t like admitting it at this stage but they know. This is the first time they’re forced to acknowledge it and it’s brilliant, from the way he looks at her to her admission that she just knew and her pun about gale pad gaye. Why are they allowed to be this cute?

This is probably the most powerful, and most contentious, example. Khushi was caught completely off guard by Arnav’s trip to London. He didn’t deign to inform her, and his family assumed she knew about it (until it was clear that she didn’t). She goes into a bit of a loop where she keeps repeating that he shouldn’t have left, why didn’t he listen, why didn’t he stay, etc etc. There’s a restlessness in her. Normally one would expect Khushi to just wait for him to come back but she seems to realise that she’s lost her chance. In my opinion, she’s telepathically feeling his panic and resignation. He’s been kidnapped, and though she cannot explain why she’s this restless and panicky, she seems to be able to feel his distress as if it’s her own in the same way he felt her emotions when she was getting engaged to Shyam.

There’s not much I can say that would improve upon this post :)

We talk so much about whether Arnav’s redemption was enough, whether his apology was good enough, and yet in my opinion this sequence is perfect. It can’t be reduced to Arnav giving her gifts. He gives her things she loves, things that once upon a time were indicators of her lower class, the channa and jalebi and Salman Khan poster that he used to look down on. Actions come so much easier to Arnav than words, and this is where he says “I love you the way you are, Khushi” (something he will verbalise on their date during remarriage but this is where it happens). And the necklace, something he instinctively (telepathically!) knew she wanted and needed, a reinstatement of the innocence he tore off her on the night they met and again on the night they eloped. This is the request for forgiveness, the apology, the acknowledgement that he hurt her a thousand times and that he’s sorry he’s sorry he’s sorry. And I will forever be bitter that the creative team didn’t allow the audience to absorb the impact of what he’d done.

This is just adorable, Khushi in Laxmi Nagar ordering a scowly photo of him to smile and Arnav smiling as he looks up at the moon. The moon has always connected them so it’s no surprise that he obeyed!

This one always makes me laugh. Khushi falls in the Shantivan kitchen and Arnav instantly calls. I think the way she looks at her phone, sighs in exasperation when she sees his name and practically barks “Kya hai?” [What?!] is peak comedy.

And a scene I didn’t include except for the subtitle (ping @maansiloves) -- the way NK asks Arnav how he knew Khushi-ji had arrived, and she replies “Bas pata chal jata hai” without hesitation. They’re no longer afraid of the connection and what it means, they’ve given into it entirely, and I think this moment is the sweetest.

This was a lot of fun, thank you so much for asking such an amazing question!! I super appreciate the opportunity for free-form answers and babble :D

Take loads of care ❤️

#ipkknd #iss pyaar ko kya naam doon #arshi #arnav singh raizada #khushi kumari gupta #jalebi weds bluetooth #answered #analysis #maansiloves #queue dard hai itna

[wangxiandecoded]

Episode 9

Previous Episode | Next Episode

(Spoilers for the whole show ahead!)

Lan Zhan remembers what Wei Ying had mentioned about the puppets the first night at Cloud Recesses showing he remembers quite a lot about him, he just doesn’t let on.

NHS is a big mood in this scene, an absolutely useless gay depending on two warrior gays to save his life. But he’s hindering their flawless team work so Lan Zhan uses the silencing spell on him.

This dialogue is so uncalled for and delivered in a way that makes you think Wei Ying just wants to see Lan Zhan have an outburst, kick back and admire how hot that is.

Wei Ying’s “you can go ahead and blame me for everything that is wrong with this world but my man has done nothing wrong in his life ever” smile.

You didn’t have to expose him like that but thank you, Jiang Cheng.

Wei Ying’s “sorry I accidentally did a hetero thing, let us please not remember this for the sake of my clean conscience” smile.

Yet Another Plot Device To Show Off Wangxian’s Chemistry

The Dire Owl subplot is one of the dreamiest scenes on the show and a fight sequence that proves Wangxian own the patent for words like soulmates, symmetry, equilibrium, balance, yin and yang, mirrors and their derivatives.

Here’s something that’s bothered me : Wei Ying calls for Lan Zhan twice and he doesn’t answer him the first time even though he looks searchingly in his direction. It is only when they knock into each other the second time that he explains the fog is a hallucination caused by the Dire Owl. (But of course Lan Zhan doesn’t need to answer him, the red string of fate will inevitably help them find the other.) 

Clear-headed as he is, did he for a second believe that the Dire Owl was making him hallucinate Wei Ying’s voice the first time, and is that why he ignored him? Because Lan Zhan’s mind could be the spotless sea of tranquillity it is, but Wei Ying has now become the shrillest thought that breaks through and demands his attention. He doesn’t respond though, so he must have been sure Wei Ying is safe.

For Lan Zhan, Wei Ying will do even the impossible. He’ll try his best to seal off all his senses and mute his head that’s forever brimming with thoughts. 

Ok, pause. I cried when I watched this for the first time and let me tell you why. The implications of this fight scene are astounding. We all know Wangxian are soulmates who can confront anything together but did we know that they could feel and find their way to each other even when their senses are completely shut? I mean, how attuned to someone’s existence do you have to be to achieve that? They are hyper focusing on nothing but the Dire Owl and yet moving perfectly with eyes closed in an outrageously impressive synchrony. They can feel the other’s presence and have utmost trust in each other to shield their direction. They move as if they’ve spent infinite lifetimes by the other’s side mastering this skill; they leap, spin and swerve like they think with the same mind. The way they fit together is to die for, nearly impossible and the legendary stuff from stories that we all wish we could have with someone in this existence. If I was whatever that stood in Wangxian’s way, I’d be terrified and call it a day. They are not just soulmates, they are The Original Formidable Soulmates™. 

Wangxian Are Here To Kick Queerbaiters In The Ass

This fantastic display of battle prowess by the two heroes fighting back-to-back is one of the many things that convinced me The Untamed is not like the other stories out there. Simply because every stop of their journey is too romantic and the others don’t come close enough. It is an injustice to compare or group their relationship with the ‘dude bro, no homo’ chemistry that bromances usually sell. Lan Zhan and Wei Ying are two people who are so passionately devoted to and absolutely belong with each other, they are soulmates not just in the minds of the audience or because the creators were afraid to make them something more, but soulmates by their own admission. There are other factors that strengthen their already supergay case like the absence of a female love interest in their lives and their flirty interactions being genuinely adorable as heck, as opposed to just isolated instances of b(romance). And it really, really, helps our case that the novel is canonically gay but it is also remarkable that a show that’s teeming with gay subtext can exist at all and go on to become one that is widely embraced by everyone, casual watchers and shippers alike. 

Lan Zhan and Wei Ying's chemistry gives all the Western superheroes a run for their money. We no longer have to wonder what it looks like when two queer heroes who are in love get to kick ass together. See, this is what happens when you have the guts to invest in a gay romance. This show looked censorship in the eye and said gay rights anyway. (I’m going to digress from this show for a sec and just plainly weep for all the queer pairings on mainstream media that we shipped but couldn’t see the light of day because of the homophobic people behind them. It is great that the truth still lives in our hearts and the millions of words on ao3. But life feels a lot sweeter to know with certainty that our heroes are in love this time and celebrate the fact that the people who made this show knew and honoured that very well, that they honoured the audience. In my eyes, CQL is the unparalleled forefather of gay romance from now on. Because reading these epic queer stories is one thing but watching Wangxian’s story unfold along with the entire world means believing in the power of gay love. And seeing our favorite heroes in action makes the characters we look up to so much more real.)

Lan Zhan comes flying like the Prince Charming he is to break the shackles of heteronormativity trying to kill his soulmate! Hell yeah, king! Save us from that straight trope that’s been choking us since time immemorial.

We did not just see Wei Ying pretend to be dead so he can outsmart the bird and simultaneously get Lan Zhan to save him just because he likes that sort of thing. Nope, totally didn’t happen. 

Oh, hello Ah Yuan! Details like this prove the show is well worth multiple rewatches.

There is nothing more uniquely Wangxian than the million thoughts they share with each other through mere glances, the frequency of which steadily increases. Who knew you could speak with zero articulation? Not having a soulmate sure sucks for the rest of us mortals. I doubt the audience can truly grasp the depth of their communication but I’m pretty sure it goes like this most of the time. 

Wei Ying teasing Lan Zhan that the Goddess Statue tried to kill him because she had a crush on him is all kinds of hilarious. Lan Zhan looks somewhere in between “Wei Ying, we’re talking about the fate of the universe, stop being gay for 2 seconds please,” and "STFU, just because I can find my way to you blind doesn't mean I will hesitate to Silence you again."

Wei Ying Is Crumbling All Of Lan Zhan’s Walls

Most people maintain their distance from Hanguang-Jun, the Noblest Of Them All, he whose robes command respect and inspire fear. There is hence something very sweetly domestic about Wei Ying latching on to his silk tassel while subtext-whining, "Where are you going Lan Zhan, I refuse to live without you", and "Ugh Lan Zhan, you're so lost without me, ok fine, I'll help you.” It’s like he granted himself the lifetime entitlement of being Lan Zhan’s nuisance-companion the night they met, and thank goodness for that because Lan Zhan wasn’t going to let anyone into his life. Wei Ying is the exception who managed to charm his way into his heart and dissolve his barriers.

Notice Wei Ying even turns down free alcohol for Lan Zhan. And the sheer undisguised panic on his face that Lan Zhan is going to leave him alone after all the bonding activities he made sure they went through is endearing comedy at its peak. 

We see Lan Zhan no longer believes resolutely in His Ways and lets Wei Ying persuade him to believe there is a better one. This is a great 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙥𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 for them because they’re communicating.

Lan Zhan doesn’t fight him anymore, period. 

The Yin Iron starts acting up and Wei Ying is immediately there for Lan Zhan, gently grounding him. He can feel the horror and pain Lan Zhan has seen in the vision because of course he can. But does Lan Zhan see how much Wei Ying loves him and hurts for him? He has to. In moments like this, Wei Ying’s presence shows how wrong Lan Zhan is in wanting to do everything alone. We all need a friend in life. And it was destiny that led them to each other because their lives would’ve evidently been a lot lonelier without the other in it. 

Episode 9 shows Lan Zhan warming up to Wei Ying some more : he has stopped being antagonistic altogether, lets Wei Ying pull him around, freely accepts his help, shares many glances with him and is ready to blast anything that lays a finger on Wei Ying sky high. (Of course we see that Wei Ying exaggerates needing his help most of the time. He plays the “I’m a frail man desperately in need of Hanguang-Jun’s protection” card because swooning into the arms of his lover is one of his favorite things. And not even Lan Zhan calls him out for it. They’re just so whipped for each other.)

#the untamed #chen qing ling #mo dao zu shi #cql #mdzs #wangxian #wangxian meta #the untamed meta #cql meta #mdzs meta #wangxiandecoded #lan wangji #wei wuxian #wei ying #lan zhan #wangxian analysis #cql analysis #the untamed analysis #the untamed rewatch #cql rewatch #ep9 #the untamed episodes #cql episodes

[adultswim2021]

Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law #32: “Sebben and Sebben Employee Orientation” | October 16, 2005 – 11:45PM | S03E11

Birdman is a breath of fresh air tonight, because this episode is SOLID as fuck. This one is presented as a Sebben and Sebben Employee Orientation film, the kind that includes a lot of limited animation and title cards and stills. I’ve been advancing a theory with Birdman this season which is that the animation absolutely peaked towards the beginning of this season, and then it seemed to fall off a bit, seeming to require “cheater” episodes like “Turner Classic Birdman” (which is mostly old footage and a live-action sequence using Turner Classic Movie’s prefab camera set-up). There’s also this, which does include actual animated scenes, but most of it is static title cards and modestly animated stills. But the comedy is strong in this one, and I even laughed out loud a couple times.

Good absurd visual gags, a decent storytelling concept, funny lines, and yes, I do like when comedy somewhat successfully replicates the look of an old film. There are better examples than this, but the Birdman crew pull it off just fine. There are times when comedy shows will do an ineffective job at communicating the idea of an old film strip or VHS-noise or whatever by just using whatever stupid filter they have on hand as part of their editing suite. This one looks PRETTY GOOD, and I LIKE THAT.

My favorite bit was Lewis Black, playing a supervillain who is in charge of dispensing office goods and will only give you two of everything, no matter what it is. Other bits I admired include Sebben’s childhood being portrayed as him constantly on the brink of experiencing eye trauma, gags about the building’s complicated network of pneumatic tubes (this wasn’t that strong, actually, I think I just have at thing for pneumatic tubes), and Phil’s line in the intro about how normal employees won’t be overburdened with lots of money, unlike him. Gags about workplace ethics are kinda like shooting fish in a barrel, but they kept things moving and I liked them well enough. The usual zany writing style Birdman usually has is on display here, but this episode’s concept suits it better than most episodes! It’s good! Okay!

MAIL BAG:

How the hell did Stroker and Hoop even get 20 episodes...

They didn’t, JACKASS! They got 13! You idiot! Nah, I’m just joshing around, it is okay and normal that you thought Stroker and Hoop got 20 episodes, because the show is interminable and makes 13 feel like 20. You are not a Jackass nor a fool. You are wise, and I suppor tyou

Sometimes this blog makes me self conscious because when I was like 15 I was SEVERELY autistic over space ghost and it makes me remember that and I don’t want to remember that. But I do think space ghost is so cool and beautiful. Sorry!

Life only gets worse and the only way to cope with it even a little bit is to recreate your childhood by watching old shows over and over. It’s a harsh truth and they should teach it in school... during SEX ED

#adult swim #adultswim2021 #harvey birdman attorney at law